Motor vehicle crashes represent one of the leading causes of injury/death in the United States today. Infants should NEVER ride in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger air bag. Children ages 12 and under should always be properly restrained in a child safety seat or safety belt and ride in the back seat. Even if there isn’t a passenger air bag in the motor vehicle, the safest place for infants and children is properly secured and buckled up in the back seat. Safety belts, both lap and shoulder, must be used with air bags. In 2015, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found the use of seat belts in passenger vehicles saved an estimated 13,041 lives of occupants five and older. An additional 2,804 lives would have been saved if all unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants five and older involved in fatal crashes had worn their seat belts. Safety belt use, currently at 88 percent in the United States, needs to increase.
DOES YOUR CHILD RIDE IN THE BACK SEAT?
The back seat is generally the safest place in a crash. If your vehicle has a passenger air bag, it is essential for children 12 and under to ride in back.
DOES YOUR CHILD RIDE FACING THE RIGHT WAY?
Children should ride rear-facing until at least two years of age and 30 pounds, or longer if the seat allows. Children can ride forward-facing with a harness until at least four years of age and 40 pounds, or longer if the seat allows.
DOES THE SAFETY BELT HOLD THE SEAT TIGHTLY IN PLACE?
Is the harness buckled snuggly around your child? Keep the straps over your child’s shoulder. The harness should be adjusted so you can slip only one finger underneath the straps at your child’s chest. Place the chest clip at armpit level.
DOES YOUR CHILD OVER 40 POUNDS HAVE THE BEST PROTECTION POSSIBLE?
Keep your child in a safety seat with a full harness as long as possible, at least until 40 pounds. Then use a belt positioning booster seat, which helps the adult lap and shoulder belt fit better. A belt-positioning booster seat is preferred for children between 40-80 lbs. It is used with the adult lap and shoulder belt.
HOW SHOULD A SAFETY BELT FIT AN OLDER CHILD?
The child must be tall enough to sit without slouching, with knees bent at the edge of the seat, with feet on the floor. The lap belt must fit low and tight across the upper thighs. The shoulder belt should rest over the shoulder and across the chest. Never put the shoulder belt under the arm or behind the child’s back. The adult lap and shoulder belt system alone will not fit most children until they are at least 4’9” tall and weight about 80 pounds.
CAR SAFETY
- Never place a safety seat in the front seat of a car. Regardless of the type of safety seat you use, the front seat is dangerous, especially if your vehicle has air bags.
- Snugly secure the belt holding the safety seat in the car and the harness holding the child in the safety seat.
- Make sure your car seat fits properly in your car. Check the vehicle owner’s manual and the safety seat instructions for proper placement procedures.
- Send in the safety seat registration card. Doing so will keep you informed about any updates or recalls of the product.
- Destroy a child safety seat if it has been involved in a crash, even if it still looks like it is in good condition. Damage that affects a seat’s ability to withstand another accident is not always visible.
- Avoid secondhand safety seats. Use a secondhand seat only if it has instructions, the manufacturer’s date and model number on it, and has never been in a crash.
- Never use an expired safety seat. The life of a car safety seat is about six years.
- Children should ride rear-facing until at least two years of age and 30 pounds, or longer if the seat allows.
- Children can ride forward-facing with a harness until at least four years of age and 40 pounds, or longer if the seat allows.
- Children who are at least four year of age and 40 pounds can ride in a booster seat. Use the booster seat until the seat belt fits correctly and until the child is 4’9”.
- All children under 13 years old should ride in the back seat.
- Always buckle up to stay safe and set a good example.
- Utah law states that children must ride in a child seat until they are age 8 or reach a height of 4‘9”.
- For more information go to clickit.utah.gov/children.php
WHAT THE UTAH LAW SAYS
All passengers must wear seat belts and children up to age 8 must be properly restrained in a car or booster seat. Remember, seat belts save lives. If you or anyone in your vehicle aren’t properly restrained, you can be issued a $45 citation.
IDEAS TO PROMOTE THE BUCKLE-UP MESSAGE
- Pass out pamphlets and/or fliers.
- Put up posters in community.
- Install signs and/or banners in parking lots and over streets.
- Show audiovisuals (at community displays, classes, or in the entry of the school, at Parent/Teacher conferences).
- Publish passenger safety news in newsletter.
- Talk about passenger safety personally – in routine service situation i.e., health care checkups, school curriculum, as guest speaker or community exhibits.
- Hold a car seat “clinic” – check for mistakes in car seat installation. Provide opportunities to try different brands of car seats in car. (Requires well-trained volunteers, good publicity, and adequate parking area.) Contact Utah SAFEKIDS, Utah Highway Safety Office, or Primary Children’s Medical Center for trained volunteers.
- Find out about car seat distribution programs that offer car seats at low cost to put passenger safety education into practice. Requires well-trained staff, some storage space, good publicity, and telephone numbers. Do not purchase used car seats.
- Arrange for spotters to give coupons to correctly buckled-up drivers and passengers. Solicit donated prizes.
- Teen programs include classroom education and service to community by teaching younger children to always wear a seat belt (service learning).
- Put up displays of car seats, audiovisuals, and pamphlets at your school and/or at community fairs.